Choucroute Of Fish Food

'CHOUCROUTE' OF FISH

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 300. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Put the rye-bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet, and toss with the melted butter. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put the sauerkraut, ham, juniper, caraway, thyme, bay leaves and all but 2 tablespoons of the wine in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the mixture bubbles, lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes. Lay the fish on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover the pot. The fish will be tender in about 10 minutes.
• As the fish cooks, put the shallot and the remaining 2 tablespoons wine in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, and stir in the cream. Add the remaining butter, a little bit at a time, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is creamy, stir in the lemon juice and some salt and pepper; keep the mixture warm over the lowest possible heat.
• When the fish is tender, spoon it and the sauerkraut onto a platter; pour the sauce over all, scatter the croutons on top and around, garnish with the parsley and serve.

SEAFOOD CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Place bacon over medium heat in a 4-quart stovetop casserole that can go to the table. When lightly brown, remove and reserve, leaving fat. Raise the heat to high, add scallops and sear briefly on both sides. Remove. Reduce heat to low, return bacon to the pan, add leeks and garlic, and cook until softened. Stir in the apple, cook about a minute, then add the smoked trout, broken into chunks. Add beer, bring to a simmer, stir in sauerkraut and season with salt and pepper. Tuck scallops into sauerkraut. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil for potatoes. Simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and return to the pot. Cover to keep warm.
• Tuck the mussels into the sauerkraut around the edges of pot. Cut the fresh trout in 2-inch pieces and place on top of sauerkraut. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cover and cook about 6 minutes, until mussels have opened and fresh trout is opaque. Scatter with tarragon and serve from casserole with potatoes on the side.

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE

Steps:

• Place ham hocks in large saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is very tender, about 2 hours. Transfer hocks to medium bowl. Boil broth until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Place hock meat in medium bowl. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover hock meat and broth separately; chill.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add bratwurst and bacon. Sauté until bacon is crisp and bratwurst is brown, about 10 minutes. Place in bowl with hock meat.
• Add onions, spices and bay leaves to same pot. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add apples; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in sauerkraut. Add all meats; press to submerge. Add reserved broth and wine. Boil 10 minutes. Cover choucroute and bake 1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 18 minutes. Drain; cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half. Dip cut sides into parsley. Arrange sauerkraut and meats on platter. Surround with potatoes. Serve with mustards and horseradish.

NORTHERN PIKE WITH CHOUCROUTE AND JUNIPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium high flame and add the sauerkraut and the cabbage. Stir the mixture well, season to taste, and when it is very hot cover and set aside. In a small sauce pot combine the spices and vinegar and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, cover and steep for 20 minutes. Strain the vinegar into another small saucepot and add the sugar, salt, chicken stock and canola oil. Heat again until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Emulsify the liquid with a hand held mixer. Incorporate some air into the liquid as you are mixing so that the liquid becomes very frothy. Set aside at room temperature. Once the sauce and the garnishes are prepared, saute the pike. Heat the peanut oil in a saute pan large enough to hold all the fish and dust it lightly with flour. Add the fillets to the pan and cook for 1 minute on the first side. Add the whole butter to the pan and flip the fish over. Baste the fish with the butter for 1 or 2 more minutes until it is done and remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Stir the cilantro into the hot choucroute. Place a mound on each plate and top with a piece of fish. Spoon some of the sauce around each fish and dust with a little ground juniper. Serve with boiled potatoes or Fromage Blanc Dumplings (see separate recipe).

TROUT CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Cook bacon in a 10-inch nonreactive heavy skillet over medium-low heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned but still flexible. Drain on paper towels.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then cook onion with butter in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients, except trout, and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and mixture is tender and lightly browned, 25 to 35 minutes.
• While sauerkraut mixture cooks, put trout, skin sides down, on a work surface. Pat fillets dry and lightly season with salt and pepper, then put a strip of bacon on each. Roll up fillets from wider end, enclosing bacon and securing each with a wooden pick.
• Arrange rolls, wider spiral sides up, on sauerkraut mixture and cover with a round of buttered parchment paper, then with a lid. Cook, covered, over medium heat until fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Discard bay leaf, juniper berries, and wooden picks. Serve trout on sauerkraut.

SALMON WITH CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
• In a non-stick skillet, saute the julienned carrot and onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until the onion just begins to get tender.
• Stir in the sauerkraut, 1/2 cup of the wine, the chicken stock (or fish stock, if using that), the 1 teaspoon of salted butter, juniper berries, thyme, bay leaf and black pepper. Bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Pour this blend into a 9" x 13" casserole dish.
• Using the same skillet, add the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil and sear the salmon fillets over medium-high heat until they are lightly browned -- sear the second side for 30 seconds and then transfer them to the sauerkraut blend in the casserole dish. Bake this in the oven for five minutes.
• While the dish is baking, using the same skillet, (drained of any oil), add the remaining wine and vinegar and reduce over medium-high heat to 1/4 of its original volume, then add the unsalted butter, piece by piece, whisking until the sauce is creamy, then remove from the heat.
• Plate up the Salmon Choucroute from the casserole dish on to 4 individual plates and then drizzle the sauce over each one.